Tag: cooking with food allergies

Vegan Pancake/Waffle Mix!

foodallergiesmom

When you have a child with milk and egg allergies, you spend a lot of your time re-vamping recipes to make them safe for your family. So many foods, especially breakfast foods, contain eggs and milk. Doing a google search for recipes sometimes leaves you with bland foods or gritty textures and can leave those of us that are used to “regular” recipes unfulfilled. But there is hope!

My husband spent a lot of time perfecting his pancake/waffle mix recipe and I want to share it with you all today!

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 1 egg equivalent of Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer
  • 3/4 cup of oat milk (you can use another dairy free milk, but we really recommend oat milk because we think it has the best consistency)
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp maple syrup
  • 1 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
  • pinch of salt

Directions:

Mix dry ingredients together first. Make your egg replacer by following directions on the back of the bag. After the egg replacer is made, mix the oat milk into the egg replacer. Add that combination to the dry ingredients and mix it all together. Then add in your olive oil, vanilla extract, and maple syrup. To get desired consistency, add water as needed (We normally add about 1-2 tbsp of water but it may not be necessary. We feel like it makes them fluffier, though.) Use can use this batter for both waffles and pancakes!

When I say that this pancake/waffle mix is delicious, I mean it! Trust me, you want to try this. You won’t be able to tell that it is egg and milk free. Everyone in our house loves it – our daughter with allergies, as well as the rest of us! In fact, my oldest daughter says that she prefers them to the regular ones! If you try the recipe, make sure to let us know what you think, and make sure to thank my husband – this recipe was all him!

Yummy Vegan Biscuits (Repost)

foodallergiesmom

Biscuits and gravy has always been one of the best meals my husband makes. He’s been dying to find a way to let our daughter try them but her dairy and egg allergies have made that difficult. Today he adapted a recipe found on Pinterest to make vegan biscuits and they were DELICIOUS!!! We’ll attempt gravy soon and I’ll share once we find a good recipe. But for now I’ll leave you with the biscuit recipe! PS – they were taste approved by everyone in our house! Once again, I’ll include exactly the items we used for those that may not know where to start with using good substitutes, but feel free to modify to your favorite brands if you want!

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 1/2 cup Country Crock Plant Butter (sticks – chilled and cubed)
  • 3/4 cup Oat Milk (we used Silk brand) chilled in the freezer

Instructions:

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and place the cubed plant butter and oat milk in the freezer.
  • Combine sugar, salt, flour, baking powder, and baking soda in a mixing bowl. 
  • Use a pastry cutter (or a fork if you don’t have one) to add the chilled cubed butter into the dry mix. This will make the mixture a course ground consistency. 
  • Add the oat milk and work into the flour to form a crumbly, soft dough. Pour out onto a floured surface and knead into a 5-6 inch rectangle. Fold in half and knead a total of 3 times. You should end with the same 5-6 inch rectangle.
  • Roll the dough out with a rolling pin and cut about 6-8 biscuits using a biscuit cutter or the mouth of a juice glass. Reknead the remaining dough and repeat these steps to cut more biscuits. 
  • Brush with melted plant butter and bake for 11-14 minutes or until edges are golden brown. 

**This recipe is dairy and egg free. The Country Crock plant butter, however may contain soy so you’ll want to swap that for a different vegan butter if you have a soy allergy! 

If you try this recipe, make sure to let me know how you like it! It’s definitely going to be our go-to biscuit recipe from now on!

FDA LOOSENS GUIDELINES FOR FOOD LABELING DUE TO COVID-19! What does it mean and how can you help?

foodallergiesmom

This week has brought some very disheartening, frustrating, and honestly scary news for the food allergy community.

This past weekend, the FDA issued new guidance that loosens up the labeling requirements for non-top 8 food allergens due to COVID-19. This guidance came as a shock to everyone in the food allergy community – including Food Allergy Research & Education (or FARE). The new guidance does not effect rules with the top 8 allergens, but it does create problems for millions of food allergy families who are constantly searching for safe foods.

The FDA lists that the goal of the new guidance, “is to provide regulatory flexibility, where fitting, to help minimize the impact of supply chain disruptions associated with the current COVID-19 pandemic on product availability.” And while this makes sense on one-hand, it also means that families that rely on very clear and strong labeling laws are now at risk. The FDA guidance goes on to say, “For example, we are providing flexibility for manufacturers to use existing labels, without making otherwise required changes, when making minor formula adjustments due to unforeseen shortages or supply chain disruptions brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The FDA does it make it clear that the top 8 allergens (along with a handful of others – sesame, celery, and mustard to name a few), may not be substituted without clear labeling. It does not, however, include rules for dozens of other ingredients that can cause anaphylactic reactions in people with food allergies. Keeping the guidelines the way they were would cost the food companies a headache along with some money. But changing these guidelines like they did could cost someone with a food allergy their life.

How is it the entire country/world has entered and accepted this current pandemic and taken drastic measures to prevent the spread of it, but yet there is a pandemic, if you will, around food allergies… that has not received near the attention it should? This is a life or death situation daily, and for their entire lives, for these individuals… and now the audacity of the FDA to lessen the required labeling is sickening and appalling.

– Katie Fraunholtz – fellow food allergy mom

All of this is on top of the stress and fear that many food allergy families are facing right now due to limited food supplies from COVID-19. Because grocery stores are selling out of “normal” items, many people are turning to allergy-friendly alternatives instead. This limits the availability of those allergy-friendly foods for those that NEED them. I know in our family, we have had to go to a handful of stores in one trip to find the allergy-friendly essentials we need to feed our daughter. Now with this, options could be even more limited (or non-existent) for those whose allergies are outside of the ingredients listed in the new FDA guidance.

Many organizations, food allergy families, and food allergy allies are looking for ways to stop this new guidance. FARE has asked that food allergy families join in the fight to ask the FDA to re-think these new guidelines. A simple way to do so is by filling out a short form at regulations.gov and putting your concerns in the “Comment” box. Be sure to include your name and hit “submit” when finished.

We need to send a strong message to the FDA, and by taking action today, you can be a voice for the 32 million Americans who depend on strong labeling laws to protect their health and safety.

– Food Allergy Research & Education

I beg you to please take the time to fill this out! If there has ever been a time to stand up for those with food allergies, it’s now.

CLick Here to voice your concerns to the FDA

Super Simple Fried Ice Cream!

foodallergiesmom

Ever wanted friend ice cream but didn’t want to mess with actually having to deep-fry something? Well look no further! Here is a super easy 5 minute recipe! Added bonus – you can even make this vegan!

Ingredients:

  • Vanilla ice cream of your choosing (I used a vegan ice cream to keep it allergy friendly!)
  • Corn flakes (or you can substitute Frosted Flakes or Honey Nut Frosted Flakes)
  • Sugar
  • Margarine or butter (again, I used a vegan margarine to keep it allergy friendly)
  • Honey and/or chocolate syrup

Directions:

  • Scoop out your ice cream and put it in the freezer.
  • Add margarine, corn flakes, and a bit of sugar to a small pan and sauté the corn flakes for a few minutes. If you choose to use Frosted Flakes or Honey Nut Frosted Flakes (like I did here!) you can skip the extra sugar.
  • Lay the corn flakes onto a plate and gently roll your ice cream in the corn flake mixture. You can use your hands to add extra of the corn flake mixture into your ice cream.
  • Drizzle with honey (pictured), chocolate syrup, or any topping of your choice. You could also add whipped cream and a cherry if you want to get extra fancy. 😉

This super simple treat is so yummy! Enjoy!

Safe Alternative to Dyeing Easter Eggs

foodallergiesmom

If you’re like us and have an egg allergy in your house, you may be looking for safe alternatives to dyeing eggs for Easter.

We all know that you can buy plastic eggs for candy, but dyeing eggs was always half the fun when I was growing up. It was something I wanted to do with my kids too, and with my oldest, I didn’t think twice about it. Then my second daughter was diagnosed with an egg allergy and I began wondering what I could do with her to continue the tradition of dyeing eggs. This year I found two great alternatives!

First, I found these fun craft eggs at Target. These can’t be dyed, but they can be decorated with crayons and stickers! They even come with some stickers in the package. Best part, these can be found in their Bullseye spot for only $3!

Second, my husband found these DIY eggs at Walmart and these can be dyed! So cool! They look just like real eggs and can be dyed without having to worry about an egg allergy!

Hope these help you include your food allergy kiddos in the traditions that we’ve all enjoyed throughout the years! Happy dyeing!

*Please note that you can find a lot of things like this online for delivery as well so no need to leave your house during this time! Stay safe everyone!

Vegan Banana Crumb Cake

foodallergiesmom

If you’ve ever read my blog before, you can probably tell that I’m a fan of banana breads and finding new ways to spruce them up! I stumbled across a banana crumb cake on Pinterest and adapted it to be vegan and allergy-friendly! It’s perfect for anyone with milk, egg, peanut, or tree nut allergies!

Ingredients for Bread:

  • 2-3 ripe bananas
  • 1/2 cup vegan butter softened (We love Country Crock Plant Based Butter or Earth Balance vegan butter)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 1/2 cup flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer (or another egg replacement of your choosing) – need the equivalent of 2 eggs

Ingredients for Crumb Cake Topping:

  • 1/2 cup butter (softened)
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup flour
  • 3/4 tsp cinnamon

Instructions:

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and lightly spray a 9×13 pan
  • Combine the softened butter (for the bread) and sugar in a bowl and beat until well blended (I just used a fork to do this but you can also use a mixer.) Add in mashed banana, egg replacer, and vanilla, and mix to combine.
  • Add flour, baking powder, salt and stir until combined. You will have a thick mixture – don’t let that scare you!
  • Pour into the bottom of the greased pan.
  • In another bowl, combine all ingredients for the crumb cake topping. Work the mixture together using a fork to form crumbs. You don’t need to overdo this – picture a typical crumb cake – the lumps are a good thing!
  • Sprinkle the crumbs evenly over the entire bread mixture. This will be a pretty thick layer of crumby yumminess!
  • Bake for 35-40 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean).
  • Enjoy warm or cooled!

Let me know if you try out the recipe!

Vegan Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Muffins

foodallergiesmom

People often think that cooking with food allergies is daunting. But it doesn’t have to be! I have a super yummy banana bread muffin recipe that I love to spruce up with things like chocolate chips or blueberries! Today I’m going to share the chocolate chip banana bread muffin recipe that is totally vegan! (So it’s perfect for dairy and egg allergies!)

Ingredients:

  • 3 ripe bananas (mashed)
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 1/4 cup flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 cup vegetable or olive oil
  • 1/2 cup applesauce
  • 3/4 cup dairy-free chocolate chips (I used Nestle Simply Delicious semi-sweet morsels this time!)

Instructions:

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
  • Mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately (minus the chocolate chips)
  • Combine the two bowls together
  • Add in chocolate chips
  • Put batter into baking cups in a muffin/cupcake pan. Bake for 23-25 minutes. (You can also make as a banana bread loaf for 55-60 minutes, but I think the muffins cook a little more evenly!)

Like I mentioned above, I love to make these with blueberries as well (this is how my husband prefers them), but my oldest daughter and I LOVE the chocolate ones for a sweet treat 🙂

I wanted to highlight the vegan chocolate chips we used! They are Nestle Simply Delicious Semi-Sweet Morsels. We bought these at Target. There are a wide variety of dairy-free chocolates out there now so I encourage you to go seek them out! I highlighted another one of them on a different blog here. You seriously can’t tell the difference between “real” chocolate chips and these!

If you try this recipe, let me know how you like it!